Support David Miller for CalPERS Board. CAPS and CalPERS Board Member, David Miller, is seeking re-election to the CalPERS Board of Directors to the Member-At-Large Position A seat, and he needs your help. We’re asking for all Unit 10 members to sign and submit a Nomination Petition to help David Miller reach the 250 valid CalPERS member signatures that are required to ensure that he appears on the ballot. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CalPERS has adopted emergency regulations allowing non-original signatures on the Nomination Petitions. To submit your Nomination Petition, please print the attached form, fill out your full name, provide the last four digits of your Social Security number, give the agency where you are employed or retired from, and sign the form indicating you endorse David’s nomination. Please return the form to CAPS by either scanning and emailing it to caps@capsscientists.org or fax it to (916) 442-4182. Please share this with your colleagues and send your nomination petition in today, they’re due May 13th!
Vacation/Annual Leave Cash Out. The CAPS MOU allows eligible employees in participating departments to submit a written request during the month of May to receive payment at their regular salary rate in exchange for up to 80 unused vacation or annual leave hours. Payment for all leave hours are made using existing departmental appropriations, therefore, each department’s participation is subject to the availability of departmental funds. Thus far, the Department of General Services (DGS), has confirmed they will be participating this year. This list will be updated as more departments confirm their participation in the program for the year. State Scientists at this department should have been notified of the department’s participation, and how to enroll. If you encounter issues enrolling in the program at a Department that has confirmed their participation this year, as listed above, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org).
Board Of Directors Meeting. The next Board of Directors’ (BOD) Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 22, 2021, at 9 a.m., via Zoom. Members will need to pre-register for the event via a sign-up process that will be sent out soon. The Draft Minutes from the February 20th BOD Meeting, as well as the Draft Agenda for the May 22nd BOD Meeting, are posted on the Members-Only Section of the Website, (the password is ChooseCAPS! – it is case-sensitive).
Pre-Board of Directors Meeting Virtual Worksite Meetings. In advance of the Board of Directors’ Meeting on Saturday, May 22, 2021, the CAPS Board of Directors (BOD) will be hosting virtual “worksite” meetings to allow members a forum to hear from and talk to their Board Members. The meeting will begin with a presentation by the Board, covering recent events and committee work, and end with a Question and Answer (Q&A) session, open to members present.
The two virtual Worksite Meetings will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2022, for Districts 1, 2, and 4, and Friday, May 21, 2021 for Districts 3 and 5. Members will receive an invite to pre-register for the appropriate District worksite meeting. Members will need to pre-register for the event in order to attend, and follow the CAPS Virtual Meeting Participant Expectations. Information about pre-registering for your appropriate worksite meeting will be sent to you soon.
Password Changed. Effective Thursday, April 22, 2021, the password to the Members-Only sections of the website will be changed to ChooseCAPS! – it is case-sensitive. Please do not forward this message, or any other CAPS Updates, to nonmembers. All dues-paying CAPS members receive these messages from CAPS. If they don’t, have them contact CAPS directly (caps@capsscientists.org) to get that fixed!
News Briefs.
California governor declares drought emergency in 2 counties – ABC News / Associated Press. Standing in the dry, cracked bottom of what should have been a more watery Lake Mendocino, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency Wednesday in two Northern California counties in response to arid conditions affecting much of the state and the West Coast. The declaration is targeted to Mendocino and Sonoma counties, where drought conditions are especially bad, rather than statewide, as some Central Valley farmers and officials had hoped. But Newsom said a broader drought declaration could come as conditions change.
Blue-colored fat linked to rodenticide exposure in hunter-harvested wildlife – Lake County News. A flock of geese in the San Francisco Bay Area were likely exposed to an anticoagulant rodenticide, according to findings released from a postmortem examination by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Lab.
In Review. Check out what you may have missed from past CAPS Updates here:
April 1, 2021. Governor Newsom’s Draft Budget Contemplates Ending PLP 2020. Governor Newsom released his proposed budget in January of this year. Early reports indicate that the Governor’s priorities remain combatting the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery. The information released appears to indicate the possibility that the PLP 2020 program is likely able to be “cut short” because of the better-than expected fiscal outlook. The reports however do not contemplate the increases that CAPS and other units deferred. However, CAPS’ rank-and-file Bargaining Team has requested that CalHR join them at the bargaining table to discuss the end of PLP 2020 and the funding of the deferred 5% increase. The CAPS Supervisory Committee will be meeting with CalHR to discuss this, separately. The Supervisors Committee will also meet with CalHR to discuss new telework concerns and possibilities for supervisory and managerial members, and that the supervisors who have still not received adjustments commensurate to their other supervisory and managerial Unit 10 peers be adjusted to match, among other items. The budget typically sees many changes between the initial draft budget on January 10th and the Governor’s revised budget (the “May Revise”) in May. CAPS will be advocating, as always, that State Scientists and scientific programs receive their fair share of the budget.
Read the rest of the entries, or see what else you may have missed on the CAPS Website here: https://capsscientists.org/supervisors/. The password is S10CAPS – it IS case-sensitive.
Choose Unity. Choose Strength. Choose CAPS!